Ziva's Story

Check out “Ziva’s Story”. Our staff and Dr. Pilkington wanted to turn a negative situation into a positive experience for Ziva, the rottweiler.

Ziva Everett is a two year old rottweiler from Chattanooga, Tenn. Ziva had a terrible hiking accident in February 2016 . Her family went on a hiking trip at Signal Point, where the accident took place. Ziva and her sister Isabella fell off a 100 foot cliff. Her sister was perfectly fine, but unfortunately Ziva wasn’t so lucky.

She suffered two broken legs and her parents immediately took her to University of Tennessee Knoxville Teaching Hospital for emergency surgery. After her first surgery was completed the Everetts took Ziva to their long time friend and veterinary provider, Dr. Tyler Pilkington. Dr. Pilkington is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and has been practicing for over 10 years at Animal Clinic Inc., of Chattanooga. At first Dr. Pilkington wasn’t very hopeful Ziva would fully recover, but because of Ziva’s great strength, attitude and amazing family she pulled through.

“Ziva suffered two fractures, one in each front leg.” said Pilkington. “She also suffered a nerve injury in the right front leg.”

While Ziva was being treated at Animal Clinic Inc., the staff wanted to do something special for Ziva. The Everetts are huge University of Alabama fans. The Animal Clinic Inc., staff decided to dress Ziva’s bandages in University of Alabama colors and their logo. The Everetts loved the bandages which led the staff to a bigger idea. Since Chattanooga is a tri-state area with so many people being huge football fans of other SEC teams, the staff decided to dress Ziva’s bandages in different SEC teams.

“We wanted to turn around a negative situation into a positive one for Ziva, her family and our staff.” said Laura Whistler a veterinary technician at Animal Clinic East.

The staff and Dr. Pilkington changed Ziva’s bandages weekly with the teams of University of Alabama, Lousiana State University, University of Tennessee Knoxville, University of Georgia and University of Florida. The Everetts were always surprised of what Ziva’s bandages would be next. David Everett is a huge supporter of the SEC, but he is not a huge fan of the UTK bandages.

“I told the staff to take that God awful orange off my dog!” said Everett.

The staff at Animal Clinic Inc. wanted to turn an unfortunate event into a light hearted and SEC fan filled experience for a family who had already been through so much. Ziva is now recovering in the best way she possibly can. She has finished all of her treatments and she is still the sweet and positive dog she has always been.

“Ziva is such an awesome dog, I’m extremely satisfied with her outcome.” said Pilkington.

Serving Our Chattanooga Community

Did you know that Animal Clinic Inc. of Chattanooga has been serving the local Chattanooga community for over 60 years? Animal Clinic Inc. enjoys serving our great city and we are always looking for ways to be more involved!

Running of the Chihuahuas 10Animal Clinic Inc. of Chattanooga had a great time at the 2017 Running of the Chihuahuas! Over the last 9 years, over 30,000 Chattanoogans and hundreds of Chihuahuas have participated in the yearly tradition that finds the fastest Chihuahua in Chattanooga during the biggest cinco de mayo tradition in the scenic city.

This year’s event had over 7,000 visitors and 150 registered chihuahuas in the race. We had so much fun handing out free swag and bandanas, thank you to everyone who stopped our tent to say hello. We hope everyone enjoyed the free goodies! Congratulations to Oliver who was the winner of the 2017 Running of the Chihuahuas race!

HES Rescues on the Runway

During the month of March Animal Clinic Inc. of Chattanooga was proud to a sponsor for the 2017 HES Rescues on the Runway. The annual Rescues on the Runway celebration offers a chance for rescued animals and their owners to strut down a runway to raise funding for the Humane Educational Society. Rescues on the Runway focuses on success stories involving special needs animals and their new owners.

Animal Clinic Inc. of Chattanooga donated silent auction baskets and attended the event. Our owners, Dr. Tony Ashley and Dr. Tyler Pilkington had a great time with their wives and the management staff! Thank you to the Humane Educational Society for letting us be a part of such a wonderful cause!

Bark in the Park & Paws in the Park

Animal Clinic Inc. of Chattagooa was a sponsor at the 2016 Bark in The Park in October. Later in the month we were also a sponsor for Paw’s in the Park, hosted by the Humane Educational Society. We enjoyed seeing everyone, and thank you to everyone who came out to these awesome events!

We also had a successful Howl-O- Ween pet costume contest! Check out our Facebook page tosee all of our adorable contestants. Thank you to everyone who entered and congrats to our winner Finnekin!

Doctor Spotlight "FAQ" with Dr. Jacob Liu

Dr. Liu has been with Animal Clinic Inc. for 3 years and we wanted to ask him some fun questions about himself so you all can learn some fun facts about Dr. Liu!

How long have you been practicing? Where did you graduate with your DVM?Dr Liu: I'm a UGA College of Veterinary Medicine graduate, class of 2014!

Where are you from? How long have you been in Chattanooga?Dr Liu: I actually grew up in Athens, GA. I've been in Chattanooga for the last three years.

What pets do you have personally?Dr Liu: Here in Chattanooga, I've got my Australian cattle dog mix named Greta and my little (formerly) feral cat named Pica.

What is your favorite part of veterinary medicine? Do you have a specialty or particular interest in the field?Dr Liu: My favorite part of vet med would have to be the wellness and preventatives side. Being able to prevent issues is a hundred times better than treating them (both for the pets and for the owners). I love behavior and nutrition it's interesting to see how big a role these play in our day-to-day relationships with our pets.

What do you do with your free time? (Interests, activities, hobbies, volunteer work, etc.)Dr Liu: I'm a huge film buff! What did we ever do without Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime?

What do you think you would be doing now as a career if you weren’t a DVM?Dr Liu: I'd probably still be involved with veterinary medicine in some form or fashion - I worked as a tech before vet school. Either that or on the pharmaceutical side since I worked in that industry right after undergrad. Or... maybe I'd be a herpetologist (what little kid didn't love frogs and turtles?)

What’s your favorite food?Dr Liu: Now this is a hard question! I guess right now, lasagna, pho, and sushi are my top three.

If you could visit any place in the world where would it be?Dr Liu: Could I have two answers? If so, Iceland and Israel.

Animal Clinic Inc. of Chattanooga Partners with HES of Chattanooga

Animal Clinic Inc. of Chattanooga had the great honor to help heal a few of the rescue dogs from the horrific Arkansas puppy mill rescue that was discovered earlier this month. We wish the best for these sweet animals and please contact the Humane Educational Society for any questions or concerns.

We Offer Pet Portals!

Now you can request a refill of your pet's medication or food---even when our practice is closed! Simply log on to your Pet Portal via our website and visit your pet's individual record page. There you can review recent prescriptions and easily request refills.

Don't have a Pet Portal yet? Sign up for one today! Just give us your e-mail address when you speak with us, or Request a Pet Portal Online.